I AM Testing (Judgment)

There was this guy and his name was Job. He lived back in Abraham’s day. He was from the land of Uz, which is somewhere in between modern day Baghdad and Cairo, Egypt. But this guy Job was living the ‘High Life.’ He had smokin’ wife, seven sons, and three daughters. On top of a nice size family, Job also owned 7,000 sheep (which is like owning 7,000 sheep; go figure), 3,000 camels(which is like having owning 3,000 buses), 500 teams of oxen (which is like owning 500 trackers), and 500 female donkeys (which is like owns 500 Mercedes or any type of cool and expensive car) , and Job employed many servants.

Job had 500 female donkeys and that must mean he had it going on! Who does not want 500 female donkeys? For real, right?

Job was the Bill Gates of 4000 BC.

Now the story of Job starts with the angels of heaven coming to present them selves to God. And scripture says that Satan came in with angels.

When God sees Satan He says, “Where did you come from?”

Kind of funny that God would say this. It sounds like God was surprised to see Satan in His presences.

And Satan replies, “Oh, I have been just roaming about the earthly realms and trying to make trouble, you know the same old same old.”

(I am paraphrasing here; Satan and God probably do not have causal conversations like the one I am narrating now)

Then God says, “Oh, then you have seen my man Job. He is blameless – a man complete integrity. Job and I have an awesome relationship.”

Satan replies, “Yes of course, Job is rich and has every comfort. You have been protecting Job.”

Now, here is where the story gets interesting. This is where God decides to tests Job.

God tells Satan, “Go ahead and test, Job. Do whatever you want, just do not harm Job in anyway.”

This is what happens:

Job 1:13-22
(13) One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting at the oldest brother’s house, (14) a messenger arrived at Job’s home with this news: “Your oxen were plowing, with the donkeys feeding beside them, (15) when the Sabeans raided us. They stole all the animals and killed all the farmhands. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
(16) While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “The fire of God has fallen from heaven and burned up your sheep and all the shepherds. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
(17) While he was still speaking, a third messenger arrived with this news: “Three bands of Chaldean raiders have stolen your camels and killed your servants. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
(18) While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. (19) Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.”
(20) Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. (21) He said,
“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”
(22) In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.

Job does not curse God, instead he worships God.

Now, when the angels came again to present themselves to God, Satan came with them again.

When God see Satan He says again, “Where did you come from?” Again God was wondering how Satan got into heaven.

And Satan replies again, “Oh, I have been just roaming about the earthly realms and trying to make trouble, you know the same old same old.”

God says, “Have you seen my servant Job? He is the man! Even we you took everything away from, he still praise my name!”

But then Satan interjects, “But Job still has his health! If he was in physical pain, Job would reject you and curse your name!”

God grants this to Satan with the one exception, that Job’s life would spared.

And this is what happens:

Job 2:6-10
(6) “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” (7) So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.
(8) Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. (9) His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”
(10) But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.
(11) When three of Job’s friends heard of the tragedy he had suffered, they got together and traveled from their homes to comfort and console him. Their names were Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. (12) When they saw Job from a distance, they scarcely recognized him. Wailing loudly, they tore their robes and threw dust into the air over their heads to show their grief. (13) Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights. No one said a word to Job, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.

Job does not curse God, instead he worships God.

Now, Job's friends come into the picture. We do not know how close of friends they are to Job, but they felt the need to come to his aid.

This ancient ritual of visiting and comforting the person in trouble is still actively practiced today. We also try to help the person find answers to justify what happen. This is where we and Job's friends get into trouble. Instead of looking to God for help, we try to figure it out for ourselves and when we explore this we tent to come up with wrong answers.

One of my professors at Friends told us the story when his daughter was born. She was born with some very dangerous birth effects. When my professor was talking to one of his friends, his friend asked him, "What sin did you commit that cause this tragedy in your life?"

This is the stupidest question to think and ask when things like this happen in a person's life. These were the type of questions that Job's friends were asking him.

This made God and angry. When God found out how faithful Job was, this is what God said and did:

Job 42:7-17
(7) After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has. (8) So take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer on your behalf. I will not treat you as you deserve, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.” (9) So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite did as the Lord commanded them, and the Lord accepted Job’s prayer.
(10) When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before! (11) Then all his brothers, sisters, and former friends came and feasted with him in his home. And they consoled him and comforted him because of all the trials the Lord had brought against him. And each of them brought him a gift of money and a gold ring.
(12) So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning. For now he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 teams of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. (13) He also gave Job seven more sons and three more daughters. (14) He named his first daughter Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. (15) In all the land no women were as lovely as the daughters of Job. And their father put them into his will along with their brothers.
(16) Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. (17) Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.

Job passes the test!

Conclusion

What do we, 21st Century 1st world people, learn from a guy that lives to close to 4000 to 6000 years ago?

I believe James gave us the answer in his letter.

James 1:2-4 (NLT)
(2) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (3) For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (4) So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Crap will happen and when it happens, the testing of our have occurs.

The question is what are you doing to do when it happens?

Will you kill over and die or will you look to God and ask, “What should I do now?”

Will you praise God or will you curse Him?

The choice is yours?

What will you do?

The Blessing

May you be like Job and see God working in every situation.
May you understand that God wants the best for you.
May you understand that testing of your faith makes you stronger.
May you believe that in Christ, God's judgment is FORGIVENESS!